UK – Sierra Leone partnership ‘will attract more energy investors’

The UK and Sierra Leone partnership will attract more businesses to invest in the country’s energy sector.

That’s according to Henry Macauley, Energy Minister of Sierra Leona who told ELN: “I think the partnership that we are developing with DFID [Department for International Development] by the time it accelerates and rams up I’m sure it will form a platform for UK investors who want to come in.”

Mr Macauley also said there isn’t currently a huge amount of UK private investors in Sierra Leone’s energy sector.

However he believes the UK is supporting the country’s energy sector “very well” by helping develop some projects.

Speaking to ELN in London he said: “The UK has always been a traditional friend and partner to us. They were with us during the war, they were with us during ebola and now they are supporting the president’s recovery initiatives and energy happens to be one of them and they’re supporting very well.

“We are working in two areas. We are working in the on grid space for example where they are supporting us in one of our isolated grid projects in the Bo and Kenema. Bo is the second largest city in Sierra Leone. We are building a new network, a new grid and they are also working with us in the off grid space where we are trying to do institutional solar for hospitals and schools and we are also trying to do home solar units or solar systems for the rural areas.”

According to Lungi Tyali, Director of Operations at Solar Turtle, a greater number people in Africa would have access to electricity if more women worked in the energy sector.